Encyclopedia

CONSTRUCTORS: EMW (EISENACHER MOTOREN WERKE)

Name: EMW (Eisenacher Motoren Werke)

In the East German Formula 2 Championships in the early 1950s most of the cars racing were based on the BMW 328, although eventually complete new cars and indeed engines were built. EMW was based in the East German town of Eisenach, close to the West German border. Eisenach had been the site of the very first BMW car factory in 1928 and the racing cars were produced in the same factory, which was run as a collective in the post-war years.

The first cars built by the Eisenach Rennkollectiv were BMW-engined specials raced at the end of 1952 by Edgar Barth, who scored a debut win at the Sachsenring against a field of BMW specials, AFMs and Veritas-Meteors. For the following year EMW built its own engine which was raced with much success in East Germany by Barth. He traveled west on several occasions, finishing fifth at the Eifelrennen F2 race in May and racing in the German GP in August. He scored wins at Dessau, on the Halle-Saale-Schliefe autobahn, at Dresden and at the Sachsenring to win the East German F2 title. At the end of the year he was beaten in a non-championship race at Bernau by Artur Rosenhammer but he came home second to give EMW an impressive 1-2 result.

With the cancellation of the formula in 1954 there were no more international appearances for the cars but they continued to be raced with success that year in East Germany.